Question:

Could you elucidate the distinctions between the DTED1 and DTED2 data formats?

Answer:

, which means each elevation point or ‘post’ represents a 90-meter square of the Earth’s surface.

On the other hand,

DTED2 provides the highest standard resolution among the DTED levels that are commonly used. It has a post spacing of about 30 meters

, making its surface cells nine times smaller than those of DTED1. This finer resolution allows for a more precise representation of the terrain, which is crucial for high-fidelity simulations and analyses.

The increased detail in DTED2 comes with a trade-off in file size; a DTED2 file is significantly larger than a DTED1 file, often several megabytes in size, due to the higher number of elevation points contained within.

In summary, the primary differences between DTED1 and DTED2 formats lie in their resolution and the resulting file size. DTED1 offers a good balance between detail and file size, suitable for a broad range of applications, while DTED2 provides the highest level of detail for applications that require the most accurate terrain representation possible.